


Pyre

by amanofpenrose



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Slow Burn, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 21:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8117803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amanofpenrose/pseuds/amanofpenrose
Summary: Yet there they were. If Josh happened to think too much about what they were doing, he’d hide behind his hands and chuckle sourly. It was a miracle that the police had not found them yet, seen how chaotic they were; and unneeded





	

He’d been given specific orders. Go to the docks, wait at the docks. Kill at the docs, perhaps. Eventual failure would be catalogued as an experimental mistake and then they would start again. It was supposed to be easy, wasn’t it? Nevertheless, these guys were well known across the place. They were “heroes”. One of them was going to be the target.  It was probably a fairly easy job. At least, that’s what the probabilities said. All of the subjects before him didn’t make it, either ending up in the Police Station of NY or coming back to the base torn to shreds and on the brink of dying.

 

However, he was different; they’d told him, he was stronger. Smarter. He’d fool the heroism out of _him_ , if _he_ was the one to come. They’d told him that the last three experiments had ended badly because of _him_ , and “ _him_ ” was probably going to face him that night; but he’d find his weak spot. That was his specialty. He would grasp at the humanity left in the monstrous mind of his, claw at the brain behind his mask, and rip away his soul out of his throat if necessary. He might’ve had a superior strength, enviable agility and all that jazz, but under his _kitsune_ mask nothing was hidden but a kid.

 

They never really told him if they’d actually discovered who the _kitsune_ kid was, or any of the kids for that matter. They jumped around the city hunting criminals and saving lives, as if it was a family business. A matter of honor, someone would point out. Heroic thinking, theirs was, but they were just very hard to kill cockroaches. His Superiors would always whisper to themselves that their nuisance was actually being very useful, but he was still a pawn and had not a right to know what that usefulness was. He had orders: he’d have to kill or capture whoever came, and that’s it. If he succeeded, which he was going to, he’d be able to finally know more; know what they were doing, who were these kids, what was wrong with him, who was he; where was his family.

 

A low whirring sound ringed in his ear and he lifted his eyes from the ground.  
_You need to pay attention._  
That’s what he was there for. So he did, he straightened his back, shook his head and threw away any though that wasn’t his. Someone was going to be here soon, and he was buzzing with excitement. And as if evoked from silence, a standing silhouette was waiting just a few feet from him. He couldn’t help but smile slyly at the sight of a fox mask.

 

«Hello.» he whispered in the silence, and received no answer back. He was just standing awkwardly between the ship containers, hiding his hands in his hoodie pockets.

«You’re one of the hero kids, aren’t you?» he said taking a step forward, but the kid didn’t move. «Did you know that everybody is talking about you? On TV, on radio stations… Are you alone?» he asked. Again, no answer.

«You’re different, aren’t you? You’re… violent.» A flinch. «You kill us, and you’re happy to do so. Why are your friends still keeping you?»

He takes two steps forward.

«A stray dog? And for what, mere help? My guy, has anyone ever told you _you’re wasted_ with them? This might sound cliché, and _pardon me_ if it does, but we could use your abilities in our research. You’re hiding your true power, aren’t you? Come on, a gun is all you have? Have they told you not to create a fuss? Or what, people discover your existence? What’s bad in that? Everyone knowing who you are, you’d be a star. »

He takes two more steps forward. He’s in front of the fox.

«And then your friends would damn themselves for not appreciating you enough. You’re strong, we know that. Why not unleash your true power?»

He kindly put a hand on his right arm, a gesture of acceptance and of control at the same time. The kid kept silent.

«I’m not here to hurt you, and you don’t have to either. We could come to a commune deal.»

The kid’s head slightly bowed down, making him look smaller than he actually was.  
He won this. He was finally going to know why he had won it.

«So, what do you say?» he said grinning.

 

A few silent seconds passed, the only noise being the sound of the waves hitting the shore gently. And then the kid looked up, and he saw his dark eyes firing up behind his mask.

The fox violently kneed him in the groin, making him whine in pain and fall on the ground. He didn’t let him touch it though, as he as quickly elbowed him in his nape with his left arm.  
The man fell on the ground with a huff, and the fox just stood there, looking at him as if it was a bug struggling to turn on its back. He stared at him while he crawled away from him. When the fox decided he’d enjoyed the show enough, he took a step, but the man raised a hand and stopped him. Implored him.

«Wait, please» he whined, «you can kill me, but you’d be losing an amazing opportunity.»

The fox tilted his head, and then he crouched next to the man, waiting. He panted, eyeing the kid warily but intrigued nonetheless.

«You don’t know what you’re getting into. It’s just going to get messier from here, and you’re all going to get in trouble.» He paused, «No one is going to trust you anymore, and your heads will be the most wanted item on the whole American ground.»  
The fox just hugged his knees, putting his head on them.

«You can avoid this by just coming with us. We can offer you a new future.»

They waited. Then the fox stood up and lent him a hand. The man looked at him, and then at his hand, then at him again, and then he grinned. He stood up with the help of the kid and dusted himself, cracking the joints in his neck. And then he punched the mask square on the jaw, making the kid fall on his back. He fell with a mute thud, and the man put a foot on his chest. The fox didn’t move.

«Let’s consider that payback, shall we?» the man said with a hint of wrath behind his words. He leaned on his knee, putting as much weight as he could on the fox’s chest. He didn’t see him move his arm.

«What about showing me your fa—»

And the fox shot three times: stomach, chest and head. He kicked the body out of his fall range and sat up on the ground, staring at the body next to him as it fell. He huffed.  
The fox got up and stretched. He pressed under his mask, where the punch had landed on, and hissed slightly. He then put his gun and hands in his hoodie pockets and stared at the gushing body next to his feet. He lightly kicked its side and sighed. He turned around and left.

 

•

 

When he silently closed the door behind him, he stood still for a few seconds, trying to hear any noise. When he heard nothing but plain silence, he sighed and turned around, taking his mask and hood off.  He passed a hand through his curly Mohawk and shook his head, trying to get rid of the tiredness. And then he bumped into someone.

«Josh.» she said in a stern voice, and Josh rolled his eyes and looked away, walking past the girl and into the main room. He could hear the constant beeping of the machinery on the farthest wall, the dim lights were flickering _again_ and no one but him and Jordan were in the room. While the girl walked in stomping furiously, Jordan got up from his spot in front of the screens and walked towards Josh with a worried expression.

«Jesus, Josh! What happened to your face?» he said worriedly, walking in front of his brother and lightly touching his face to assess the damage. Josh moved it and gently pushed his brother away.

«Dude just landed a punch. I was distracted.» he muttered, and the girl scoffed in return.

«Distracted? I can’t fucking believe.» she stomped in front of Josh again, blocking his way to the cramped kitchen. Josh lazily moved his eyes to her. «How many times do we have to tell you to stop doing things at your own mercy? One day you’re going to end up killed, or worse– caught by some mafia dudes and mashed into lifeless meatballs!»

Jordan sneered at that, and the girl looked at him rabidly and pointed a finger at him.

«Do not dare, Jordan. It’s your fault too.»

Jordan let his arms fall by his sides with a disdained expression.

«What? Why would it be my fault?»

«Because you can’t take care of your own psycho brother!» she yelled and Josh walked past her and into the small kitchen. She followed stubbornly, followed by Jordan.

«Halsey, Josh is older than me.» Jordan pointed out, spying from behind the girl’s shoulder what Josh was doing. Halsey almost growled.

«If you keep killing potential sources for information for us and the Police Department we are not going to resolve any case.» she snarled, and Josh just opened the moldy fridge and crouched down to intently stare at it. «It’s the twelfth time this has happened– this is not how we do it. We can’t kill–»

Josh slammed the fridge door and a tense silence fell on them. He leaned on the counter, staring at them, and opened a can of energy drink. He took a swig and looked away, staring at a random point just next to the two teens.

 

«They are doing something, a research about something supernatural, probably. I’m sure whoever is working on it it’s doing it in secret, and they’d be more than glad put their hands on us.» he said, still staring at nothing. «There’s something off about these people. And they know about us.»

Halsey furrowed her eyebrows.

«They know about what, exactly?» she asked.

Josh gave her a knowing look and then pushed past them.

«Josh…» she groaned and followed him to the scattered and ripped beanbags abandoned on the opposite corner of the main room. He put his drink on the floor and landed on them, trying to get comfortable between feathers and leftover crumbs.

«Are you taking a nap after drinking Red Bull?» Jordan pointed out, but the other two just ignored him.

«Did you use your power?» Halsey asked as gently as broken mirror pieces and Josh pouted.

«It depends. Which one?» he mocked and took another swig. Halsey scratched her face in irritation, groaning. «I didn’t. You told me not to, and I didn’t. I’m a good boy.»

Halsey scoffed.

«At least you do one of all the things we tell you to do.» she muttered, and then she turned around and walked to the screens on the opposite wall. «How do they know, then?»

«Maybe they saw the graffiti?» proposed Jordan, and Halsey hummed.

«I doubt that, even if they did how could they know it was us?» retorted Josh, his voice muffled by the cushions he was laying his face on.

Halsey just stared at the monitors, pushing keys and again, staring and pushing keys. Behind her, the two brothers were lazily fighting for the last sip of Red Bull, letting feathers pour out of the shredded puffs.

«You guys, if you keep doing that I’ll have you pick up every single feather with your tongue.»

They turned towards the corridor and saw Jesse untangling his scarf while putting down some paper bags.

«Don’t tell me what to do.» spat Josh while Jordan yelled a “Jesse!” way too loud. He hurried up to the paper bags and dramatically hugged them.

«You bastard, I thought you were happy to see me!» laughed Jesse and Jordan furrowed his eyebrows.

«Of course I am happy to see you! Seeing you means seeing food, and I can’t see anymore I’m so hungry. You’re my medicine, Jesse.» he said as serious as one could do as the other guys laughed.

Jordan took the bags to the table, starting to take out all the delicious, condiments-oozing goodness while Halsey left the screens to join him.

Josh just stared at Jesse as he took off his coat, lovingly watching the two kids fight for the guacamole. Then Jesse turned to Josh and his smile turned into a confused expression. Josh looked away.

«What happened to your face?» Jesse asked, and then looked back at the kids. He knew Josh would give a half-assed answer.

«He visited the man who’s been gutting kids lately –you know the one– and he got the punishment he deserved for ignoring what we said we’d do.» Halsey explained in a flat tone and Josh buried his face again in the beanbag as Jordan elbowed Halsey.

«He didn’t deserve it.» he added, but got ignored.

«Jordan, why didn’t you…» began Jesse, but Jordan shook his head.

«He still refuses.» Jordan said.

«Don’t talk as if I’m not in the room.» muttered Josh, and there was a moment of motionless silence. Then the kids sat at the table to eat their food, Jesse walked on his steps to leave his coat on the hangers near the door and Josh pushed himself up.

«Mom, can you go call Mel?» Halsey asked teasingly and Josh didn’t even turn to her.

«I’m not your mom.» he said and Jesse gasped from the other room.

«Are you telling me you want a divorce, honey?» he cried out and Josh tried to keep himself from laughing.

«Dad, if mom wants a divorce will you still buy us food?» Jordan asked with a mouthful of burrito and Jesse walked back into the room with a shattered expression that then turned quickly into a neutral one.

«No.»

 

Josh left the others discussing their family businesses as he walked into the dark corridor next to the screens. The lights were broken, which meant that it was eerily dark and silent. Some cables ran all the way from the screen to Melanie’s ajar door. Josh stepped in front of the door and peeked into it, spotting Melanie sitting cross-legged on her bed with her eyes closed and a faint smile on her lips.

«I am glad to know that despite the last time, you still trust me enough to go where I tell you to.»

Josh sighed at that. He leaned down and lifted a cable that directly connected to Melanie’s right temple and pulled it lightly. Her head tilted and she opened her eyes.

«Food is already on the table.» he simply muttered before turning around.

 

•

 

Melanie was, in an unnatural way, his _pusher_. Except she had no drugs; she had eyes everywhere. Which meant that whatever strange thing was happening anywhere in the city, she would know. And she would tell Josh.

He wasn’t sure if it was because she had some strange affection directed his way or just because she liked to see blood pouring out of gunshot wounds on the heads of those that did wrong. Josh tried his best not to care, what was important to him was that Melanie trusted him enough to let him know whenever he was needed around the city.

He sat down at the table, right next to his brother, and he hid his hands under his thighs, staring intently at the food at the center. Melanie followed him and sat in front of him, immediately fishing a burrito from the bag. The kids ate in silence; Jesse was sipping from a plastic cup while staring at Josh.

When they decided they’d had enough, Jordan burped contentedly and earned a punch on the head by Halsey while Melanie stole the rest of her coke as fast as she could. Then they got up, and while Melanie trotted back to her room, Halsey and Jordan sat in front of the computers and started muttering secretly. Josh watched them go, and as they turned their back, he removed his hand from under his leg and took a taco from the bag and started devouring it voraciously. Jesse was still staring at him.

«So,» he started, putting his leg up on the table, «what did you do today, Joshie?»

Josh groaned in response, sinking back in the chair. Jesse looked him down and up.

«How did you know he was going to be there, waiting for you?»

«I didn’t.»

Jesse got up and sat next to him.

«Did Melanie tell you again?»

Josh stayed silent.

«Josh…»

«Nah, man. Don’t even try.» Josh muttered.

«Dude, we told you to stop doing this. We can’t keep doing these mistakes. You’re fucking up our leads.»

Josh put down his taco and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

«We thought it was just the heat of the moment, that one time; but now it’s clear that you’re enjoying killing these dudes. We can’t let you do that. That’s not how–»

«That’s not how you work, okay, I know. I got it. That’s not how you work. I’m sorry. I won’t do that again.»

Jesse gave him a look and then leaned back on his chair, finding his balance on its two legs.

«You said that the last time. And the one before that. And the one before that, still.» he looked at Josh, while Josh stared at his last piece of taco intensely. «You want me to continue?» No answer came. «I said we weren’t going to force you to your mattress, but I guess that’s the only solution to this.»

«You can’t do that. Please, give me another chance. I won’t do that again.» Josh whispered tiredly.

«Okay, then» said Jesse, getting up and snapping his fingers towards the two kids near the computers to get their attention. «Raise your hand if you think we should just strap Josh to his bed and never let him see the light of day ever again.»

Josh turned towards them and saw Halsey’s hand shooting up, but Jordan immediately jumped at her and forced her arm down. Jesse totally ignored the ruckus happening in front of him and scoffed.

«Come on guys, I can’t believe you all care so much about Josh.» he turned to him, «Guess you’re free to be.»

He didn’t add anything else, but Josh knew what the joking expression he was wearing was hiding. Jesse walked to him and patted his shoulder.

«Come on, man. You can’t let us down.» he smiled and then joined the two kids examining screens and maps.

 

It wasn’t the first time that happened. As Halsey had said before, eleven times he had ignored the plans and followed his instincts. He didn’t do it because he enjoyed it, though. They were wrong about that, he enjoyed none of what they were doing. He couldn’t enjoy living a rejected life like theirs, with no dreams, no family, and no hope for the future except for running in the dark against forces they were not meant to fight.

They were kids; Josh was the oldest out of all of them. He didn’t enjoy that. He’d lost his teen years. He didn’t want them to go through the same.

 

Yet there they were. If Josh happened to think too much about what they were doing, he’d hide behind his hands and chuckle sourly. It was a miracle that the police had not found them yet, seen how chaotic they were; and unneeded. Sure, Jordan had been able to hack into the systems of the Department, just to know how, where and when they could be needed– just to avoid getting in the way of secret plans they were not a part of. However, what they were doing was still pretty illegal. Useful, but illegal. _Thank God_ they weren’t _normal human beings_ , or they would’ve died a long time ago.

 

Josh let those three words float aimlessly in his mind.

_Normal human beings._

 

«Josh said he knew about us.» Halsey said matter-of-factly and Josh lifted his head from the floor at the mention of his name. The other two were staring at something on the table. Jesse hummed. «And he said he didn’t use his powers, and I believe him.»

«But if they knew about us… how? I mean, I suppose they know we’re not really human since we don’t really hide that, but…»

«Did you know that the video of Halsey doing that sick front flip while we were running on the roofs has now half a million views?» interjected Jordan while spinning on his chair in circles in front of the screens, waiting for something. Jesse and Halsey ignored him and instead turned to Josh, who was laying half on the floor, half on the beanbags.

«What exactly did he tell you?» asked Jesse, and Josh hummed.

«Something about me being different, wasted with you and a star.»

Halsey groaned and Jesse just stared at his friend, unfazed but with an amused smile on his lips.

«He said–» Josh started, but immediately stopped. What did the man say? Josh sat up and stared at the ground with furrowed eyebrows. A few silent second passed, and Jesse and Halsey stared at each other in confusion. Even Jordan had stopped spinning on his chair to look at Josh worriedly.

«He punched me.» Josh said after a while in a disdained tone. The others looked at each other, again.

«Yes?» said Halsey, shrugging. Josh looked up at her: he seemed devastated.

«He punched me.» he pushed himself up, «That never happens. No one has ever punched me.»

«What does that mean?» Halsey asked, getting fed up by his friend’s crypticness. Josh struggled for a second, trying to find the right words.

«I don’t want to sound cocky–» Halsey scoffed at that, «– but no one has ever punched me. With the whole not-really-human thing comes great reflexes, you know that, right?» he looked at each one of them. Only Jesse seemed to grasp what he was trying to say.

«Do you think he has a power of some sort too?» he asked, and Jordan “ _whaaat_ ”’d from his spot on the chair.

«He kind of convinced me for a second, there.» Josh admitted. «He told me I could be useful for their research, and that I was wasted here trying to hide my _true powers_.»

Silence filled the room again.

«He convinced me.» said Josh again, a barely audible whisper over the continuous whirring sound of the neon lights. He let himself fall on the bags.

«Josh…» began Jordan, «Are you sure it was him?»

Josh looked up at him and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. His eyes were slits on his face.

«Are you sure it wasn’t… you? Who convinced yourself?»

«No.» spat Josh and Jordan lifted his hands up in surrender.

«Then what?» asked Jesse, «Did he have some kind of psychic power?»

«Maybe,» muttered Halsey, «or maybe they have more information about us than we believe.»

 

The conversation died there. Jordan decided to go to sleep, and Josh thought that was the best idea he’d had in a while, so he just made himself comfortable on the beanbags while Jesse and Halsey’s voices slowly became white noise. He could help them with their strategies and whatever they did with what they had, but he had a feeling he wasn’t really welcome since he decided to go berserk on their targets. Plus they always picked on his näivetés regarding plans, and he’d laugh awkwardly; he wanted to help. It was unfair.

Then again that was probably why he liked to work alone.

 

He found himself drifting away in the limbo between sleep and wake when the other two voices stopped talking, as Halsey probably decided to go to sleep. He debated for what seemed like half an hour if it was worth it to get up to go use the toilet, and when he heard music playing from Jesse’s earphones he decided he was awake enough to get up.

He rubbed his eyes before lazily pushing himself up on his legs and that caught Jesse’s attention.

«Where are you going?» he asked, and Josh gave him an annoyed look.

«To the toilet. You want to come with me?» he asked and Jesse chuckled, shifting his attention back to his phone. Josh was barely awake when he stepped into the bathroom, and barely awake when he stepped out. That’s why he almost missed a petite figure waving at him urgently from the opposite corridor, the one that led to the kids’ rooms. He stopped in his tracks when he recognized Melanie as the figure waving at him to get closer. He glanced at Jesse, making sure he was still enthralled by his phone before following the girl into her room.

 

 

He softly closed the door behind him and then looked at Melanie in confusion.

«I thought you didn’t want to tell me anymore when stuff happened.» he whispered, and Melanie smiled slyly.

«I don’t know what made you think that. I still believe you’re the most qualified to do this job, here.» she hummed while laying a torn map on her bed. Josh squinted his eyes at the sight of all the cables abandoned on the ground.

She put a finger on the map, pointing at a spot just near Central Park.

«Hell’s Kitchen?» asked Josh. Melanie nodded.

«A group of people just straight up kidnapped a man from here–» she dragged her finger to Belmont, «–and transported him here. They are now inside a building on the 49th near the docks.»

«Where I was this evening…» mumbled Josh, trying to pierce together pieces of a puzzle that didn’t seem to fit together yet.

«Sadly, I don’t have eyes where they are, but I am pretty sure they are up to no good.» she turned to Josh, putting a hand on her hip and looking at him condescendingly. Josh just waited for her to say something else, but after a few silent seconds she just furrowed her eyebrows and hit him on the shoulder.

«What are you waiting for?» she pushed him towards the door, failing miserably as Josh didn’t move and just looked at her in confusion. «Come on, man. Do that anti-hero bullshit you do. Kick their asses. Come on!»

«No, Melanie. You need to tell the others.» he retorted and Melanie sighed.

«There! Is! No! Time! As much as we know that dude might as well be dead, since you’re not moving your sweet cheeks.» she huffed and stopped trying to push Josh towards the door, deciding instead to sit on the bed and to cross her arms like a little child. «What are you, afraid that someone else might convince you of being better than us?» she mocked.

Josh felt a flicker of rage light up in his chest.

«I’m not afraid.» he said, and Melanie lifted her eyebrow at that. She started mindlessly playing with a thread coming out of her blanket. She didn’t say anything nor she looked at the guy, and that irritated Josh a lot more than actual talking.

«I’m not afraid!» he repeated loudly this time, and Melanie looked at him with a stern expression and again crossed her arms.

«Then go!» she growled, «I don’t want other people to die just ‘cause you’re afraid Jesse is going to tie you to your bed.»

«Shit!» Josh hissed and covered his face with his hands. «Okay! I’ll go.»

She gave him a big smile and got up, trotting to the door and leading the way. Josh rubbed the skin under his eyes and then followed her.

 

«Okay, I’ll distract Jesse and you go.» Melanie took a step forward, but Josh stopped her and yanked her back, grabbing her shoulders.

«Melanie» he whispered, «I’m going to check the situation, but you need to tell the others when you see me get there. Okay?»

The girl huffed and her lip corner lifted up.

«You really are scared.»

Josh’s worried expression turned into a frustrated grimace and he pushed her away, receiving a wide grin in response.

«Go do your thing.» she said lastly, and approached Jesse at the table. Josh waited for them to move to the kitchen, as Melanie asked Jesse to make her a smoothie. Once the room was clear, he silently tiptoed to the narrow corridor that led to the front door, grabbed his mask, the gun and exited the basement.

 

•

 

There were only a few bullet points on the list of stuff that Josh was grateful for in life; first place, drumming. If life hadn’t been so chaotic with him, he would’ve pursued his long lasting dream of living a _Plan B_ life: music. Sadly, he was forced to be content with living a _Plan E, Corollary Three_ life. As much as he despised the envy he felt towards _normal_ _people,_ his _Plan E_ life wasn’t at all that bad.

Second place, running.

He was the fastest out of them all –with an average speed of 68 mph, thank you very much, Jordan– and that gave him the ability to jump higher than anybody else. He’d just hopped off Queensboro Bridge when he took advantage of the momentum to charge and jump again on the roof of a fairly low building. That’s how they moved in the city: they ran, jumped, crawled and hid as much as they could, but they would be lying if they said they didn’t enjoy showing off their abilities every once in a while. Only Jesse usually used the subway, but that was just a side effect of his power. Josh dreamed of a day when he could run and jump without the obstruction of the mask. Not even the rain, the light pecks of small droplets that were hitting him as he ran, was as obnoxious as the mask was.

He took the most hidden route; he really didn’t want too many people catching him jumping across roofs and balconies, even less so if he stumbled upon a police patrol. Once he arrived at the 49th, he snuck back onto the ground in the space between two buildings and nonchalantly started walking towards the dock, as if he was not wearing a mask many citizens of New York had grown accustomed to. He walked up to a brick-red building with an open garage door, oddments of placards and glued on fliers on the walls, torn away by the rain, and the faded graffiti of a white stick figure. He glanced at the entrance before stepping in, making sure to stay close to the walls and to keep an ear out for any noise.

He walked down into the garage, which had not a single car. It was empty, and his soft steps echoed in the empty cement room. He felt incredibly vulnerable.

He tried to focus his hearing on anything that wasn’t his breathing and he was just able to hear chattering and footsteps coming from a door behind him in time to run and hide behind a pillar. It slammed open, and two men holding a body walked into the garage. They dropped the body on the floor and walked back through the door, closing it behind them. Josh waited. And when he was sure they weren’t coming back any soon, he cautiously walked up to it. It was a man who looked not older than 30, with blood pouring out of a gash on his forehead and simple clothes. His chest was still moving. Josh shook his shoulders, hoping for him to wake up. When there came no response from the body, he huffed and tried to pick up the man right as the door opened up again; it was for sheer luck that no one saw him jump upwards like a cat and grasp a metallic pipe on the ceiling. He damned himself for, again, being so naïve. He tried to stay as still as possible as the two men picked up the body again and started to carry it up the garage’s entrance. The pipe started creaking dangerously and Josh started praying with every cell in his body that it would resist long enough for the two men to disappear.

Luck was on his side, that night.

Once with his feet on the ground, he run back outside, trying not to lose the three men.

He was wrong; luck wasn’t on his side.

 

He turned around frantically, trying to find again the figures but there was no sign of them. Just a silent New York street. He turned around and jumped up on the wall, climbing his way up on the roof to see if maybe he could spot them in the near roads. As he started to grow more anxious, he finally saw them approaching the fence that divided the road from the quay. And then he saw past them, and on the docks, and he saw a van and a couple of people waiting between the shipping containers he’d walked in between a couple of hours prior. He cursed under his breath and started to run as fast as he could towards them. Once he hopped over the fence and cautiously walked under the bridge, he approached the entrance of the pier, making sure that no one could see him. The rain was getting stronger, which didn’t play to his advantage as his sight was, as already said, obstructed by his only shield.

He made sure that the men were walking up to the docks before making any move. He took a run before jumping on the highest level of the pier, immediately running towards the end of the platform and hiding behind cars and containers. The people around the van where patrolling with guns in hands, lazily looking out for any movement and sometimes clearing their helmets’ visors from raindrops. The fox hid behind their closest shipping depot, waiting for something to happen as he tried to ignore the wet clothes sticking to his skin.

 

After what felt like forever, he saw the two men finally approach the van. He tried to get close by going up the container and keeping himself as low as he could, but the rain was making it very difficult to see clearly. They dropped the body and opened the van’s back doors; they pulled another body from the truck and Josh recognized it as the man he’d shot the same day. They also pulled out some weird machinery, and at that point Josh grabbed the gun from his jeans and pointed the gun towards them. He waited for a target, which manifested itself as a hooded figure coming out of the same van. Josh didn’t care, he was there to create chaos and get rid of any potential enemy. He pointed the gun towards the figure, waiting for the perfect moment to fire. He followed it while it leaned on the bodies and attached cables to both their temples.

Then it looked up, straight to where Josh was, and his heart skipped a beat before he quickly curled on himself, trying to be as hidden as possible. He cursed his lungs, asking for so much air when he couldn’t allow himself to make a noise. After a few moments he peeked up again, and the figure was nowhere to be seen. A string of “ _shit, fuck_ ” spilled out of his lips and he pushed himself back, falling on the ground and tightening the grip on his gun.

Out of nowhere, flashing red and blue lights beamed from where the entrance of the pier was, and if Josh felt scared before, now he was in full on panic mode. He couldn’t go back, nor he could go forward: he was done.

Cops started to shout from his left and Josh’s first instinct was to flee the opposite way. So he did, risking getting a bullet stuck directly into his head. He did his best to remain hidden behind the containers, while armed men ran past him totally unaware of his presence.

Until he ran directly into one of them.

There was a shout, and the man grabbed his wrist, and Josh yanked it away, and there was a gunshot and Josh ran away again. He couldn’t hear the rain anymore. He ran until he got to the end to the pier, so he turned back and ran and jumped on a container, but he slipped and ended up falling badly on the ground. He didn’t let himself recover, because as he opened his eyes he was met with the figure of another man. So he jumped up and pointed the gun towards him, but didn’t fire. The man’s hands shot up, and Josh could see surprise in his eyes. He wasn’t wearing a helmet, didn’t have a firearm, and wasn’t showing any will to hurt Josh. They stared at each other for a few moments, then the man hesitantly took a step forward and Josh tensed up his muscles; he still didn’t pull the trigger.

He let him get closer, until the gun barrel was lightly touching his forehead. The man was staring intensely into the holes of the fox mask, breathing quickened by the adrenaline. He was a bit taller than Josh, but his slim frame made him look definitely smaller. He leaned on the gun.

He mouthed something, but Josh didn’t catch it, too confused by the man’s actions and his own.

« _Pull it_ » he mouthed again, hurriedly. Josh’s hands were shaking, but he didn’t dare make a move.

A few moments passed, where the noise of the commotion happening a few feet from them was slowly coming closer. And then the man huffed, shook his head and walked away defeated, not before giving Josh a last glance.

The fox let his hands fall to his sides, while he tried to calm his lungs and his nerves.

_Why didn’t he pull the trigger?_

Life wasn’t giving him a truce yet, though, as the cops found him standing still under the rain and started shouting words that came as gibberish to Josh’s ears. His body, which felt numb and heavy, acted on auto-pilot, turning backwards and running as fast as he could off the pier and down, into the water.

 

•

 

«I can’t see anything! Can’t you get closer?»  
«No, you idiot. They’ll find me.»

He groaned and massaged the skin under his eyes, as he didn’t dare move his pupils from the screens.

Halsey was pacing behind him with crossed arms while Melanie was sitting on the ground, lying on the wall with her eyes closed and the cables glued to her temples.

«It’s been twenty minutes.» Jesse said, leaving out the rest of his thought; but the grim atmosphere in the room was enough to let him know it was a shared concern. They stayed in silence, sometimes glancing at Jordan and the screens, other times letting the rhythmic steps fill the empty spaces between them. Jordan sighed. He got up.

«I’m going to look for him.» he announced, and Jesse got up as well.

«We don’t know where he is right now. And we don’t want teenagers running ‘round town with messed up heads. Sit down, please.» he said sternly, walking between Jordan and the corridor that led to the outside door.

«Jesse, he is my brother. I don’t want to leave him bleeding to death in some disgusting alley!» Jordan shouted, and Halsey stopped pacing the room, turning towards him.

«It’s his fucking fault for being so selfish. Let’s just wait for him to come home.» she growled, and that made Melanie open her eyes and look guiltily at her friends. Jordan took a deep, raging breath before opening his mouth to answer back, but they all heard the sound of the front door closing, and the room fell back into another icy silence.

The sound of muffled steps, a thud, more steps. Josh walked into the room with his head low, dripping wet and with a nasty gunshot on his right arm.

«Oh my God» Jordan breathed out, approaching his brother and taking his face in his hands. «Oh my God.» he breathed again, assessing the situation.

The others remained still, staring at the two brothers in a tense silence.

«Josh» Halsey said after a few seconds, «what happened?» she asked, more tenderness in her voice than any of them had ever heard. Josh didn’t move. They waited. He mumbled.

«What?» said Jesse. Josh coughed and collapsed on himself; Jordan caught him before he touched the ground.

«I didn’t shoot him.» he mumbled again, and the others looked at each other as if they could have the answer.

«I didn’t shoot him.»

**Author's Note:**

> @ehytherejay on the twitterverse. i got drawings.


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